SEC sticking with 8-game slate in 2025, Third Saturday in October is safe
The SEC's 2025 football scheduling format has been revealed.
The conference will remain with an eight-game format, however, the format for deciding opponents has been altered. Previously, the conference indicated that it would alternate seven schools with one permanent rival being played each year. In the case of Tennessee, it was Vanderbilt.
Now, it has been announced that the 2024 opponents will be played for a second-straight season with the locations of the games flipped.
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| Team | Location |
|---|---|
|
Oklahoma |
Knoxville, Tenn. |
|
Arkansas |
Knoxville, Tenn. |
|
Florida |
Gainesville, Fla. |
|
Alabama |
Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
|
Kentucky |
Lexington, Ky. |
|
Mississippi State |
Starkville, Miss. |
|
Georgia |
Knoxville, Tenn. |
|
Vanderbilt |
Knoxville, Tenn. |
The format will be revisited for change following the 2025 season. Other options include a '6+3' format that would feature nine games. Under this system, teams would play six teams on a rotation with three opponents staying on the schedule every year.
Others oppose a nine-game SEC slate in hopes of boosting the conference's records and sneaking more teams into the expanding play-offs.
The SEC also mandates a game to be played against an ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 or major independent opponent. Tennessee will open the season against Syracuse in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Aug. 30 in Atlanta.
What this means for Tennessee
With the Commodores named Tennessee's permanent opponent, there was a worry that some historic rivalries may be pushed to the side. If the seven teams outside of Vanderbilt were alternated, the 2025 schedule would not have included Alabama, Florida, Georgia or Kentucky.
Now, those rivalries, including the Third Saturday in October without Nick Saban, will be intact through at least the 2025 season.
However, this does mean the Vols will go two seasons without facing former SEC East opponents South Carolina and Missouri. While neither of these are historic rivalries, Tennessee has faced the Gamecocks every season since 1992 and the Tigers since 2012.
This also pushes back the first meeting with Texas with both 'UT's' in the SEC. This makes it unlikely that the top-two quarterbacks in the 2023 cycle Arch Manning and Nico Iamaleava meet on the gridiron assuming at least one leaves for the NFL at the earliest opportunity.
Other SEC teams to not be featured on Tennessee's schedule in the new 16-team SEC through the first two seasons are Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
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